DON’T CLICK THIS.

Welcome to the rise of the Internet. We're all here in uncharted territory. I want to submit to you that things have shifted so radically just in the last 10 years. We don't really know what we're doing. And we are about to see the consequences of what technology has brought us, namely the Internet on a spiritual level. That is, I think, something that none of us can fathom yet completely. See, in the first century, if you wanted to grow closer to God or learn more about the ancient paths, you would go to your local synagogue where the Torah scrolls are housed, for they'd be so expensive that no one else could afford it. And they would, on the Sabbath, open up the scrolls and read from them. And that's how you would gain more and more and more knowledge about God. And in the midst of going to the synagogue, you would bump into people, you would speak to them, you would do this thing called fellowship. But today, in this post Internet age, we are spoiled for choice. There is millions of different sermons and videos of all types, good and bad, on the Internet for us to pick and choose on what we will participate in. See, before you went to church, you sat in the pew and you got the word that the pastor received hopefully from the Holy Spirit that day, and you would receive it whether you like it or not. The problem is with our human condition, when we are spoiled with all this choice, we tend to want to pick and choose what we want to hear, what sounds interesting, what looks cool, what looks interesting, what captivates our hearts, our ears, our eyes, what's colorful. And yet those things are exactly the type of things that if the person presenting information is not of a pure motivation, can easily deceive us into other places. See, before you would come to church and receive the message that you need to hear. Whether you liked it or not, you sat on the pew and listened. Today, if you don't like it, it's easy to just shut it down. And this is exactly what has been prophesied will happen. I want to submit to you in some strange way that even this age of what the Internet has brought us in all of the good which, all of the information it has presented us, there has been good that has come from that, there has been revelation that has come from that. Amen to that. But also, it's not always good to be able to choose what you want to hear. And that's exactly where Paul Wright says, I charge you in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, who is the judge of the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the Word, Be ready in season and out of season to reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming. He's speaking about this time right now. A time is coming where people will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But you be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. The church has not been perfect. There has always been issues. There is always more refinement that has been needed, and God is doing a great work. Even today, in the midst of everything we're seeing, however, we have to recognize that in our availability of information all around us, there are so many more people out to tickle your ears than there are people who are out to give you what you need to hear. So many people want to give you what you want to hear to get you to click so that they can get more views or popularity or whatever. See, unfortunately, the reality is, is that it is getting more and more rare to find people who are so sold out and looking for you to grow and to tell you what you need to hear, even if you don't want to hear it. Because what you need to hear are the words that are difficult to both say to you. And it's the kind of words that many people are scared to say to you because they're scared you're not going to come back next week. And this has been an issue in churches as well. Don't get me wrong here. But in all of the choices as you now have presented to you, this issue is only growing worse and worse and worse. And I have been speaking to pastors for this is more for many years now, who they feel this on the ground. Good. And I'm talking about good and faithful, honest, amazing shepherds with amazing fellowships. And they are seeing how their people, their sheep that God has entrusted to them, drawn away to myths, strange teachings, all these things on the Internet, Internet that is so captivating and interesting, and they're listening to that and devoting themselves to that ticking of the ear. Instead of the convicting words that the gospel brings us, the convicting words of our God, it commands us to change and make sacrifice and grow. And all those teachers who tell you they found all these mysteries, and if you could just understand all of these mysteries that aren't in the Bible, then suddenly you will be enlightened and suddenly you will grow spir like never before. And suddenly you will have life inside of you. No, brother sister. The life of the Messiah is in his word. The Bible as we have it today is what has the key to life. Who is the Messiah himself? If someone comes to promise you some mysterious thing is going to give you more than what the Messiah has come to give you. They are deceiving you. And many of you have gone onto paths like that. And now you've come full circle back and you're like, you know what? None of that gave me the life that was promised to. None of that made me more happy. None of that gave me more peace. It made me more fearful, more paranoid, more uncertain about my salvation, my future, and less fruitful. And unfortunately, the ministries that would want to tickle ears, to draw more crowds, they will draw more crowds because the world is attracted to that more. And of course, not all large ministries are large because of compromise. And not all small ministries are small because they're just telling the truth. How big a ministry is says nothing about the quality of their teaching and doctrine. But at the same time, the world is going to incline themselves to have their ears tickled. This is what the Holy Spirit has comforted me in here at Rise on Fire for us to not get sucked into giving you what you want. I love you so much that I'm not going to give you what you want. I love you so much that I'm going to give you what you need to hear, even if you don't want to hear it. The uncomfortable things that many people would never want to ideally even talk about, yet I know are important. The reality is I'm not here to entertain you. Your pastor is not there to entertain you. Your church is not there to entertain you. They're not there to make you happy. God is supposed to be the audience. God is supposed to be the one who looks upon us and sees how we walk before him, whether good or evil. He is the one who we ought to please in our teaching, in our serving, in our sacrifice, in what all we do. Let him be the one who we show up for. Don't show up to be entertained, show up to worship the king, to grow more into his image. It is all about him, as always will be always about him. And for eternity to come, it will be about Him. But the moment that we've made it about ourselves, we grow dissatisfied because this or that ministry isn't giving me what I want. Well, maybe what you want isn't what you need. And so, brothers and sisters, what is the solution to all of this. Unfortunately, things aren't going to get better before they get much worse first. And that's unfortunately the reality. But God's people will remain the same. God's people will remain devoted to him. His callings. They will remain. They will keep their eyes on him. They will ask God, tell me what I need to hear, Lord, even if I don't want to hear it. Oh, God, tell me, Lord, show me the wretchedness of my heart. Show me what I need to be sanctified in. Show me where I need to change. Show me, O Lord. Show me. And if that's what you're here for, well, welcome. I love you so much and I'm so honored that you're even here in this video right now. Keep your eyes and heart guarded. Keep yourself secure in God's will. Find yourself a fellowship. Find yourself a place where you can rub against others, iron sharpening iron. Find yourself a place where you can express yourself and also receive accountability at the same time. And here, yes, we're here. We're on the Internet. You're watching this on the Internet? The Internet is good. It allows us to spread the message of the gospel further than ever before. But let's also not be ignorant of the dangers thereof. This is not a replacement for church. This is not a replacement for fellowship. This is not a replacement for accountability. This right here is simply me sharing the gospel with you, and I hope for you to grow from that. But this here is not a replacement for your pastor either, because I don't know you in that personal way. Even though you may feel like you know me and even though I love you guys so much, let's just be real and recognize that there is a time and a place for everything and let's not mix the things up, right? God, I pray, Lord, for everyone who's listening right now, Lord, that even despite Lord, all of the challenges that we and our children will continue to face, Father, I pray you would guard our hearts and lead us to the teachers, lead us to the ministries, lead us to the churches, fellowships, pastors. Lead us to the people, O Lord, that you want to use to pour into us, that you want to help us grow in discipleship. Yeshua, I pray that you would keep your people safe. Guard them against the evil one, Give them the strength to resist the devil. We pray all this in the name of Yeshua. Amen. I love you guys so much. Thank you so much for being with me. Many of you have been watching the channel for many, many, many years now, ever since I was in South Africa and I couldn't be more honored. I still don't really understand, and I know I'm not worthy to even speak to you and to have your ear, but I'm just grateful for that. Hey, our podcasts are about to surpass 100,000 listeners, and if you don't know about the fact that we broadcast to podcast as well, check out our podcast at rise on fire.com podcast. I'll also leave a link on the description of this video for you as well, and I'll see you guys in the next one. Shalom. It.